Malcolm Gladwell has now written four best-selling books: Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers and the recently released, David & Goliath. If you are unfamiliar with Gladwell, I commend him to you. His contribution is to capture interesting research and then relate … Continue reading →
Until the late 1980s, common sales practices were to push product Features-Advantages & Benefits (FAB) and then to try to manipulate a “Close” by employing clever scripts. Some of the best companies in the world (GE, Xerox, IBM, and Exxon) eventually … Continue reading →
Usually credited as a Jack Welch idea, Rank & Yank refers to an employee evaluation system where workers are ranked against one another and those who are graded lower are then yanked from their jobs; as in fired. Proponents claim … Continue reading →
This blog is intended as a companion to the previous one, One Size Does Not Fit All, where we make the case for sales education designed to fit different skill levels. It is prompted by a common challenge we face … Continue reading →
One size may fit all when it comes to ball caps. But, it is a flawed approach when it comes to teaching and learning, including sales education. We are all familiar with the curricula we experienced in schools and then … Continue reading →
Over the last twelve or so years, I have done a fair amount of Executive Coaching. My approach is to start the dialogue using assessments like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO). They serve … Continue reading →
A recent piece in the New York Times on Lincoln School of Management by Nancy F. Koehn caught my eye because of my collaboration with the Lincoln Leadership Institute in Gettysburg (http://www.gettysburgleadership.com/). My first thought was that my friends in … Continue reading →
Yogi Berra, one of my favorite philosophers, once observed, “Predictions are difficult, especially when they are about the future.” Now that 2012 is in the past, let’s look back and see how I did with my Twelve-for-Twelve predictions. First, the … Continue reading →
There are two classic plays on selling: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and David Mamet’s Glengarry GlenRoss. The former won the Pulitzer in 1949 and the latter won the same honor some thirty-five years later. Glengrarry will be back … Continue reading →
I grew up on Long Island along with a baseball team named the New York Metropolitans. They were managed by the legendary Casey Stengel who was one of those special individuals who spoke his own language: Stengelese. Woeful performance after … Continue reading →